Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 159 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.33.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $113.69 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.